Sunday, October 14, 2007

Sunday Sunday Sunday

Well, this morning I played video games until around 9:30 then headed outside to wet sand the guitar ... once again.

Yesterdays clear coat went on really well and I'm getting really good at the brush on application technique. Wet sanding was going very well until I was sanding the side portions of the guitar. I wiped the guitar to see where I was and noticed some blue on the rag. DOH! Nothing major I just had a small sand though, you can't even tell where it is. So, I decided to finish the front and back of the body with 800 grit wet then re-clear just the sides.

I should be done with body work next weekend, woo-hoo!

While I was waiting for the clear to dry I decided to work on the neck. Took apart everything and cleaned every nook and cranny in that sucker and gave the face a good buff. It looks brand new again. Even cleaned the fret board with some naphtha and a tooth brush (dirty sucker ... yuck). Then I straightened the neck and leveled and rounded the frets. After all of that I cleaned her up and put on a fresh coat of fret board finishing oil. The guitar will need some new frets in the future, but I'm confident that Jeff will get a few more years out of the existing ones ... so that's good news.

I also took apart the Floyd Rose bridge and gave everything a naphtha & 3-1 oil bath. Everything received a tooth brush cleaning and then it was all reassembled. I did this, because my original once over of the bridge made me think that I may need to replace some screws and/or parts. After the bath and the scrub down everything is in working order. A few of the set screws are corroding, but they don't need to be replaced just yet. Gives the guitar some character.

So far I only need to replace a handful of screws due to the heads are stripped. Almost couldn't get them off. The next challenge I have is that a screw head has broken off and the screw portion is still in the body. Hey now ... it was like that when I got it. I'm sure I have an article in one of my magazines on how to repair that (or at least get it out). Worst case I'll have to drill it out and fill the hole with some putty and it'll be good as new again. The hole is covered with a plate so I'm not worried about drilling it out if it comes to that.

If I remember to take in the model number of the guitar to work I'll give Ibanez a call this week to order a new back plate cover. I'm actually getting a excited to get this guitar finished so I can hear what it sounds like on Jeff's amp.

Well that's all. Nothing too exciting this weekend.

2 comments:

brent said...

it's good to have you back. this guitar has been a thorn for a long time. i to can't wait to hear it. when i picked out the pickups, it was all guess so i am giddy to rock my three chords.

Jeff Kamp said...

I can't wait sounds like it is going well!!!